Drinks At a Bar
by You May Call Me Red
Summary: One-shots of Jolex at the bar. Disclaimer- it all belongs to Shonda. Previously 'Realisation'.
1. Realisation

**A/N **A completely random one-shot I wrote in about ten minutes so is probably an epic fail. Unedited and Alex is kinda OOC, so just ignore those teeny weeny details.

**Realisation.**

Jo wasn't exactly sure when it happened. All she was sure of was that it did, in fact, happen. She, did, however, know when she realised it...

They'd worked a 48hr shift together. He invited her to Joe's for a drink and, for reasons unknown, she had accepted. They were just there as friends, of course. Or rather, acquaintances; she was quite certain he wasn't the kind of guy who had friends. At least he wasn't the kind of guy who admitted to it.

It was 9pm, and Jo was tired and knew she she should go home to get some sleep. But she stayed. They were there, drinking beer and tequila, for quite some time. Easy chatter and laughter passed between them, and she didn't even complain when he called her 'princess'. All she did was call him a jerk, and he didn't deny it but simply agreed with her.

Somehow, she ended up drunk while he remained so annoyingly sober. She revealed that she was quite an entertaining drunk; singing Christmas carols even though it was the middle of March, demanding Joe offer her a job because she was hot and offering strangers who came to the bar free vodka. He watched all of this with amusement clear in his eyes and only stepped in when she tried to take off her shirt. He told her it was time for her to go home, and Jo threw her arms around his neck and said she would if he carried her.

So Joe called a cab, and she was carried bridal-style out to it. She giggled cheekily and refused to tell him where she lived, and so she had to spend the night at his place. He settled in beside her, and that was when she knew what she needed to do. She leaned over towards him but, just as her lips brushed his, he turned sharply and looked out the window. He stayed like that the entire ride.

Cristina wasn't there, so it was decided she would sleep in her room as it was the only room with a made bed. She was still too drunk to walk properly, so he carried her up the steps and deposited her in the bed. He tucked the blankets around her and whispered goodnight before he tiptoed out of the room.

It was then, lying all alone in the dark and unfamiliar room, that Jo realised she had fallen in love with Alex Karev.

**A/N** ...Well? Reviews are... chocolate and cheese (which is good). Also, there's a possibility of me continuing this. If you'd be into that, let me know.


	2. Intrigue

**A/N **Happy Christmas! Merry New Years!

So I've decided to make this into a series of oneshots. Each will be primarily set at Joe's and they will be in chronological order. Read on!

**Intrigue**

Jo was angry. At what, she didn't know. But she knew she was angry and annoyed and depressed and-

"I'm lonely, Joe. I'm like, a lonely person," she informed Joe the bartender sullenly. To say she was drunk would be quite the understatement. She had been sitting there for two hours drinking beer and complaining about how miserable she was.

The entirely non-tedious life of Jo Wilson, everyone.

She glanced up at him. "How cool is it that we have the same name? I mean, we could be long-lost twins who were separated at birth!"

Joe smiled at her from over the bar. "I don't think parents actually give their kids the same name. And besides, I'm a fair few years older than you."

"So? You might be my older sister," Jo protested.

"You realise you're completely trashed, right?"

Looking utterly aghast, Jo shook her head defensively. "Am not."

He laughed. "You called me your sister. I'm a guy."

"Oh. Well, okay. Maybe I'm a little-" she cut off when she saw who had entered the bar. "Oh, crap. Hide me!" she cried and promptly attempted to dive over the bar.

Joe gave her a knowing smirk when Alex Karev decided to occupy the seat beside her. "Beer, I assume?" Alex just nodded and swivelled in his seat to look at Jo.

"Are you drunk, Wilson?" he asked curtly.

Obviously, Jo took offense to the ridiculous assumption. She didn't voice her feelings, however. Ever since that horrendous night in which she tried to kiss him- and the even worse revelation that came after- she didn't like speaking to him. She always seemed to make a fool of herself when she did.

But of course, he was Alex, so he proceeded to push the matter. And so finally, she turned to him and glared. "No, Dr Karev, I am not drunk. Well, I am, but that is irrelevant. What I really am is lonely, and you're not helping matters in the least."

Alex, who had long ago learned to never question the motives of a drunk or crazy woman- and he was fairly certain she was both- decided to ignore the fact that she had no right to speak to an attending that way. "Stop moping around. It's not your greatest look."

It took a moment for Jo's intoxicated mind to process what he'd said. "But I do have looks that just so happen to be great?" she questioned, fully aware that it wasn't exactly appropriate.

He gave her a long, steady look. "Shut up, Wilson," were the words he finally settled on. Eloquent.

"I'll take that as a yes, then," she muttered before ordering yet another drink. "You know, I think you might be lonely too, Dr Karev."

Rolling his eyes, Alex snorted. "If you're going to intrude on my personal life you may as well call me by my name." He gave her a sideways glance and a small smirk.

Jo lay her head down on the counter. "Fine. Alex. Whatever. Either way, you didn't answer."

"Wasn't aware it was a question. But okay; I'll bite. Yeah, I'm lonely. So what?"

She arched an eyebrow. "Don't you have like, billions of trillions of attending friends?"

He grunted. "You overestimate me, Wilson."

"Or maybe you underestimate yourself," she countered.

Glaring, "You're far too coherent for how drunk I swear you are. Shouldn't you be vomitting and passing out somewhere?"

Jo shrugged and looked at her currently untouched drink. "Nowhere to go. Besides, people who annoy me also tend to sober me up."

"So I annoy you?" Alex asked.

Only then did Jo decide that that probably wasn't the best thing to say to her boss. So she changed the subject back to her degree of drunkenness. "You're right; I'm completely wasted. Want me to start singing Christmas carols again?"

He cringed. "No. God, no. Don't get pissed, but you're kind of a shitty singer."

"Only when I'm drunk. My friend Heather once told me I sound like Adele... Or Katy Perry... I don't actually remember."

For reasons completely unknown to Jo, it was that, of all things, that made Alex laugh. "Nice," he said between chuckles.

She frowned. "You're making fun of me," she whined, finally taking a sip from her drink.

He shook his head, "No, not at-"

"For future reference, liars are _very _unattractive," she cut him off.

Grinning slightly, he pulled her beer away from her and gulped it down himself. "In that case, I was totally making fun of you."

The two of them laughed, and it was one of the few times they'd ever laughed with each other rather than at each other. It was nice, and they welcomed the change.

A half hour or so later, when they'd both stopped drinking, Jo groaned. "I can't believe I'm actually hanging out with you. Again."

"Gee, thanks," Alex grumbled.

Shaking her head quickly, she corrected herself. "No, no. It's just, I guess misery loves company."

His eyebrows flew up. "And who says I'm miserable? Maybe my loneliness is self-imposed."

"No, it's not. It would be, except I'm pretty sure Medusa and Yang are the only people on the planet who actually like you," she informed him evenly.

He looked away. "Again, thanks."

Jo patted him on the back. "You know it's true, Karev. And you're not miserable because you're lonely; you're miserable because you're an attending who's sitting at a bar getting drunk with an intern who you dom't even want to sleep with."

"How come you assume I don't want to sleep with you?" he asked, sounding quite serious.

She shook off her initial shock and grinned. "If you did you would've tried by now." She stood up. "Can I get money for a cab?"

Muttering about something that didn't sound complimentary, he pulled a fifty out of his wallet and handed it to her. "Saying I would've tried implies I wouldn't get all that far."

Biting her lip, she bent down and whispered in his ear, "That's because you wouldn't." Despite her words, she walked away severely doubting whether or not she had any willpower at all in regards to him.

Alex sat there shaking his head as he watched her walk away and wondered what exactly it was about her that intrigued him so much.

When she reached the door of the almost empty bar she turned and smiled. "You're paying for my drinks, by the way."

That, he decided. That was exactly what intrigued him.

**A/N **Penny for your thoughts, my lovely readers?


	3. Sobriety Never Works

**A/N **So in case you don't figure this out, these _are _one-shots, but they just so happen to follow one story. Like all one-shots, though, they'd still make enough sense by themselves.

**Disclaimer **All Shonda's, not mine.

**Sobriety Never Works**

"Look, all I'm saying is that we're different. You and I are different. I didn't mean to say one or the other of us is better, just different," Jo insisted as she and Alex quickly crossed the street to Joe's. It was a cold night and she clutched her thin coat tightly against her, trying her hardest to fend off the chill. He grunted in response and glared at her.

They entered the bar and, as had become the usual for them, walked up to the counter. Joe took one look at Jo's exasperated expression and Alex's pissed one before sighing. "What's up his ass?" he asked Jo as he gestured to Alex.

Alex opened his mouth to answer but Jo cut him off. "He thinks I think I'm better than him."

After blinking twice, "You are better than him."

Once she heard that, Jo couldn't help but laugh while Alex just glared some more. Joe looked between the two of them again and decided a change of subject was in order. "Karev, beer? Wilson, tequila?"

Nodding, Alex pulled off his coat. "Sounds about right," he said, not bothering to ask Jo.

She straightened her spine and grinned a proud smile. "Actually, I'm trying something new."

The two boys looked warily at each other.

"Gin?" Alex guessed.

"Vodka?" Joe guessed.

She gave them both her best withering glare- which made them struggle to hold in laughter. "No," she began haughtily. "For an undetermined amount of time, I have decided to try sobriety. Oh, and I'm a vegan now."

Alex snorted. "You can't be sober. Or a vegan. I give you two days," he said.

"Your faith in me is astounding," she muttered sarcastically. "Joe, get the man a beer. And, um, get me some nuts. Vegans like nuts, right?" Joe nodded and complied to her wishes before going to make idle small talk with someone else.

Giving her an odd look, Alex said, "If you're being sober then why'd you come here with me?" He raised a questioning eyebrow.

She shrugged. "Well, we've come here every Friday for the past two months. Couldn't bail on you now. And it's not like I had anything better to do." She wasn't brave enough to tell him the real reason; that she really just wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. This whole being in love with him thing really sucked.

"You're always telling me I have no friends, but I'm really starting to think you don't either," he teased. Apparently, her pledging sobriety had knocked the crabbiness right out of him.

With a smile, she popped an almond into her mouth. "You realise that would make us best friends, yeah, Karev?"

He groaned. "Oh, God. The horror," he mumbled.

Her face lit up in amusement. "And we could plait each others hair, and buy each other breakfast and-"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry; you're the most popular person I've ever met. Happy?"

Eating another almond, she grinned wickedly. "Exceptionally so."

Jo played with the fraying edges of her jacket while discreetly studying him from the corner of her eye. She chewed on almonds (they had to be her favourite thing in the world) and wondered why she couldn't just tell him. It was rather pathetic.

It wasn't that she was scared he didn't feel the same. In fact, she was actually quite sure he _did _feel the same. It was more that she had never been all that good at putting herself out there- and the fact that he'd turned her down once before certainly didn't help. Him being her boss also inclined her to the 'suffer in silence' route.

"Where's your head at?" Alex's voice cut through her thoughts.

She pulled a face. "Just a, uh, crabby patient I got stuck with today." Screw sobriety, she thought bitterly. "Joe! I need tequila."

Alex then laughed at her for a good ten minutes. "And you wonder why I have no faith in you," he choked out between chuckles. "I gave you two days, at least. But you lasted a quarter of an hour. That is _all _you, not me."

Sighing, "You know nothing. I was actually sober for three days."

He shook his head and clapped her on the back. "Good job, Wilson. Good job. I am immensely proud of you."

Once she considered his words, she smiled. "Are you by any chance proud enough to pay for this tequila?"

"That and every one after," he said, raising his glass to her. A moment later he frowned. "Well, every one tonight. Then I think I'll have shown my pride enough."

"I suppose that will do," Jo sighed and dramatically clasped her hands together, as if paying for her own drink marked the end of the world.

Alex mumbled about her being a piece of work and ordered her another shot of tequila. An hour later and they were both far more drunk than they ought to be.

"You know, Joe," Alex was saying to Joe. "I think it is super cool that you're gay. I've never had a gay friend before. I mean, Robbins and Torres are lesbians, but they're not gay, y'know?"

Joe, needless to say, looked a little freaked out by this. "Uh, okay. Great."

Eyes wide, Jo squealed. "Alex! You've been holding out on me; you really do have friends!" She threw her arms around him. "Good for you." Realising how hugging him around the torso while he just sat there was rather awkward, she pulled away. She cleared her throat. "Joe, Alex," she started. "I think I might be drunk."

They both had different reactions to this. Joe laughed and nodded, while Alex shook his head. "Nah. You're sober, remember?"

She smiled broadly. "Yes! Let's go with that. If anyone asks, I'm completely sober. But in the meantime, I have to go to the bathroom."

As she sauntered off towards the bathroom, Alex realised something. "Joe..." he trailed off, staring after her.

"Hmm?"

Alex tore his eyes away from Jo when the door swung shut behind her. "Have you ever noticed how great her ass is?" he asked.

Shaking his head, Joe took away Alex's drink. "No, I haven't," he said. "And I think you've had too much to drink."

"And she's really pretty, too. Prettiest girl I know."

Joe leaned across the bar. "Yeah," he said slowly. "And she's also an intern."

"So? That's never stopped me before," Alex protested.

Rolling his eyes, Joe shook his head again. "You're following her into that bathroom no matter what I say, aren't you?"

Alex didn't answer. Instead, he stood up and headed towards the bathroom wihout glancing back.

**A/N **I like reviews. *hint hint*. Goodbye, fellow Jolex fans.


	4. Awkward

**A/N **To all the people who reviewed, favourited or followed (or in some cases, all three) I thank you!

**Disclaimer: **Shonda's, not mine.

**Awkward**

Awkward.

Extremely awkward was all Jo could think of to describe spending Friday nights with other interns. It was even awkward that she thought that, because interns always spend time together.

Awkward.

She didn't know what they were talking about. She thinks Stephanie was alternating between Yang's surgeries and Avery's eyes, Shane about how much he loved 'lumps and bumps' day and Heather complaining about how she'd been on Medusa's service too long and how it was messing was her mind. What made it all the more awkward was that Leah was sitting there gushing about Alex.

It was official; Jo would do anything to be able to climb under a rock and die.

"Hey, Jo," Heather interrupted Leah's incessant rambling. "Why aren't you with Karev?" Now _that _shut up Leah.

Jo choked on her water (she was being sober again) and looked up. "Why- why would I be with Karev?" They didn't know. They couldn'tknow.

Shane raised an eyebrow. "Because you are _always _with Karev." Stephanie and Heather nodded. Leah glared.

"I am not always with him," Jo protested.

"You are," Stephanie and Shane said in unison.

Leah sat up straighter. "You know, I don't care that he's into you. I've slept with him; I have dibs."

In that moment, Jo was endlessly grateful for the fact that she didn't blush. "He's not into me," she cried. "We just work together a lot."

"Yeah," Heather said slowly. "Because he's into you."

Stephanie sighed. "Poor girl is _so _oblivious," she said to Shane. Jo decided then that there was a reason she didn't like to hang out with these people. They were far pushier than any human beings had the right to be.

It was right then, just as the embarrassing conversation died down, Alex chose to walk into the bar. "Oh, crap," she muttered.

Raising an eyebrow, Heather looked around and grinned. "Stephanie, Shane, Leah; Jo wants to be alone," she said loudly, gesturing in Alex's direction. "We should go."

"What? No! I love company. I'm not good all by my lonesome. Stay." But it was no use; they were already gone. Interns suck.

Jo was debating whether or not to hide under the table when Alex reached the bar.

Good, she thought. He hadn't seen her, so it was safe to stay seated at her secluded corner table. But then he turned, caught her eye and headed towards her. His drink remained abandoned at the bar.

Awkward.

Alex settled himself into the seat Shane had recently occupied and looked at her. "Hi," he said. "I didn't think you'd show tonight."

She shrugged and took another gulp of her water. "I didn't think you would." She struggled to concentrate on her drink as now she was even more aware of him than she used to be. How he tapped his foot, how his eyes were looking anywhere but her, how he kept tugging his shirt away from his neck... Damn it! Sex had ruined everything. A voice in the back of her head told her that she couldn't have expected any less.

"So..." he trailed off. "Are we still doing drinks, then?"

Jo looked him straight in the eye for the first time that night. "I don't know. Are we?"

With a slight smirk, he placed his elbows on the table and leaned over to her. "If you want."

"I don't know." Staring at her drink, she shrugged again. "I don't know," she repeated softly.

They sat there in silence. Jo tried not to pay attention to how his eyes no longer avoided her, but looked directly at her, while she remained cowardly and stared at the table.

After a while, he stood up and walked to the bar. He came back with not just a shot of tequila, but the entire bottle. "Ta-da!" he announced, clearly proud of himself. "You look like you could do with this." He slid it over to her.

She shook her head. "I'm trying sobriety again," she informed him.

Snorting, he took it back. "Yeah, right. Because that worked_ so _well last time."

"Shut up," she said as she watched him take a swig straight from the bottle. And then they were quiet.

Awkward.

Tired of sitting in awkward silence, Jo had a sudden outburst. "This is awkward, right?" she started. He looked up, startled. He opened his mouth to answer, but she held up a hand and continued. "Because I don't want it to be awkward. We are two mature adults, who it just so happens have slept together. It shouldn't be a big deal. And we were drunk. We were really, really drunk. It meant nothing. So can we please just pretend it never happened?"

Alex looked at her oddly. "Yeah, sure. If that's what you want."

"What the hell do you mean by that? Even if it's not what I want, it's what you want. I mean, isn't that what you do? Sleep with interns and pretend they don't exist?" she whispered harshly.

That surprised him. "I never said that was what I want," he said.

She laughed a bitter laugh."Yeah" she agreed. "But you never said it wasn't." She set down her glass before she stood up and walked out.

Alex was left sitting there, alone in a packed bar with nothing but a bottle of tequila, a shot glass and a half glass of water. In that moment, he couldn't help but think that they were better company than she was.

Awkward.

**A/N **Any good?

If any of you have any specific one-shot you'd like me to write, leave the idea in a review or PM. I'll write it and post it here if it fits or as a separate story. That's all.

LB.


	5. A Dead Curious Cat

**A/N **I give you Meredith! I was going to save a chapter like this for later, but really wanted to write it, so here you go.

**Disclaimer **I _wish _I owned Grey's, but unfortunately I don't.

**A Dead Curious Cat**

"You're moping," Meredith said as she sat down next to him.

Sitting down on his other side, Cristina nodded. "It's pathetic. And annoying," she informed him coolly.

"So you should stop," Meredith finished.

Alex looked between the two. "Is this an intervention?"

"No," Meredith denied. "We just want you to stop."

"Or stop doing it around us," Cristina offered. "As long as I don't have to see you mope, I don't care." She ordered a shot of tequila and downed it before looking straight at him. "I'm mad at you."

He groaned. "What did I do this time? Breathe? Eat? Exist?"

"All three," she said in the midst of more tequila. "But that intern- and I can't think of a dwarf name for her so I have to call her 'that intern'- is annoying me. I need you to take her back."

No, he thought stubbornly and ordered a beer. "Why?" he asked somewhat angrily. "Can't you just swap with Mere?"

Meredith shook her head. "I like Brooks," was all she said.

"And she makes me want to kill myself," Cristina added. Her pager went off. "I gotta go. I'll see you later."

"Melodramatic," Alex muttered before turning to Meredith. "And how can anyone like Brooks?"

"Mean," she hissed in response.

He sighed. "Joe," he called. "Get Meredith some tequila."

"Don't bother," she called.

Alex frowned at her. "You better not be trying sobriety. Sobriety _never _ends well."

She laughed. "What would you know about sobriety?"

"More than you'd think," he said quietly enough that he thought she wouldn't hear.

Meredith was worried about Alex. She had been for a while, ever since he'd started moping around. And he'd been moping around for a while. "Are you okay, Alex?" she asked.

"Are you?" he asked, but didn't answer.

This did nothing to appease her, but she didn't push the matter. She knew better than to antagonise him. "Nope," she sighed. "I'm pregnant. Don't tell."

Alex choked on his beer, accidently spitting some onto the bar. "What?"

"I'm pregnant," she repeated slowly, as if he were a small child. "It's quite simple, really."

He nodded just as slowly as she spoke. "Congrats," he said. "But why does that make you not okay?"

Shrugging, "Hostile uterus. New subject, please."

"I'm not okay," he admitted.

Meredith decided this was progress. "I'm guessing it has something to do with 'that intern'?"

He looked at her, and didn't bother to ask how she knew. "Wilson," he corrected. "Her name's Wilson. And I slept with her."

It would be bad for her to laugh, she thought. "And the problem is? You're Alex; you sleep with interns. It's what you do."

"Mean," he said.

"True," she said. "So, you slept with an intern. What's wrong with that?"

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "I actually liked this one," he mumbled sheepishly.

It became too hard for Meredith to hold in her laughter. "You're kidding me, right?" He shook his head. "Seriously, Alex. Only you would think having sex with someone you had feelings for was a ba- oh, look! Here she is."

Alex looked around quickly. She hadn't lied; Jo had just walked in with Brooks and was sitting down in the same corner table at which they'd last talked. He swore.

"Go get her, tiger," Meredith said between giggles.

He glared at her. "You suck, and I'm leaving. Tell anyone and I'll kill you and make it look like an accident." He stood up and left, leaving Meredith with an idea.

She waited until Alex left the bar before walking over to Wilson and Brooks. They both looked up in surprise and didn't protest as she sat down with them.

"Uh, hi, Dr Grey," Wilson stammered.

Meredith smiled. "Hi, Dr Wilson, Dr Brooks. Could one of you please get me some water?"

The two interns looked between each other.

"But you just came from the-" Brooks started.

Wilson cut her off. "Okay," she said and stood up. "I'll be back in a minute."

Shaking her head, Meredith kept smiling. "Not you, Dr Wilson. Brooks, go."

Brooks opened her mouth to protest but seemed to think better of it. She gave a small sigh and headed off.

"No offence, Dr Grey, but what do you want?" Wilson asked bluntly. She really needed to learn how to speak to attendings.

Meredith didn't mind, though. In fact, she grinned. "Straight to the point," she said, mild respect lacing her tone. "I like it. Your name's Jo, yeah?" Jo nodded. "Okay. I'm going to call you Jo, and you can call me Meredith."

Again, Jo nodded. "So?" she pressed. "What are you doing here?"

"You slept with my best friend," Meredith replied shortly.

Jo looked confused. "Uh," she started. "No. I did _not _sleep with Dr Yang."

Meredith laughed. "Okay, my other best friend. Alex Karev. You did sleep with him."

Shifting uncomfortably in her seat, Jo looked anywhere but Meredith when Brooks' voice rang out through the bar. "I don't care if you're busy! I want my drinks and I want them now!"

Both Meredith and Jo laughed.

"Yes, okay. I slept with him. There a problem with that?"

Meredith shook her head and smiled. "No, not at all. I was just curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Jo said dryly.

"Are you and Alex dating?" Meredith asked.

"God, no," Jo said. "Why would you think that?"

Absently, "Oh, I'm just a dead curious cat."

Brooks reappeared. She had a glass of water in one hand and two shots of tequila in the other. "Here," she said, clearly annoyed as she handed the water glass to Meredith and one of the shots to Jo.

Meredith raised an eyebrow. "Tequila, huh?" she questioned Jo.

Once she'd downed the the shot, Jo nodded. "Yep. Sobriety never ends well."

This made Meredith grin; Jo and Alex _clearly _had private jokes.

"What brings you over here tonight, Dr Grey?" Brooks asked as she settled back into her seat. She did the shot and pulled a quick face after.

Shrugging, "Oh, you know. Just... bonding with the interns," she said casually. "You guys are the future of the hospital."

Jo rolled her eyes. "Yep. That's exactly what we were just doing. Bonding."

As she wasn't the brightest when it came to social cues, Brooks didn't pick up on the sarcasm. "Oh, okay. That's cool. What are we bonding over? Patients?"

"Yeah..." Meredith said. "Actually, I think I've done enough bonding. I'm going to go. Bye."

Standing up, she turned to Jo. "He likes you. A lot, I think," she said. "I think you should give him a chance."

Once she was gone, Brooks looked wide-eyed at Jo. "Who likes you a lot? Who should you give a chance?"

Jo looked away. "Oh, nobody."

**A/N **So I know there was no actual interaction between Jo and Alex. Don't hate. There will be in the next chapter.

Reviews are almost as good as Grey's Anatomy.

_LB_


	6. Everything's Normal

**A/N **I have no A/N to speak of.

**Disclaimer **All I own of Greys Anatomy is all eight seasons on DVD

**Everything's Normal**

Jo was happy. It had been a while since she'd been well and truly happy, but just then she was. She had saved a man's life. This is why, just after midnight, she _skipped _into Joe's with a big, goofy grin on her face. Yes, she skipped, because that is what happy people do.

"I'm happy, Joe," she squealed.

He looked up at her, unsure whether to be amused or scared. He settled for a bit of both. "I can see that. Want some tequila? Or are you being sober again?" he smirked.

Cringing, she furiously shook her head. She was momentarily no longer happy. That, needless to say, didn't last long. "Gimme, gimme, gimme," she cried, bouncing on the balls of her feet. He obliged.

Jo sat on the edge of a seat and tried to hold back her giddiness when she realised people were staring. "Guess what?" she asked, not able to stop the grin making its way back onto her face. "I'm a doctor!"

From where he was serving another customer, Joe rolled his eyes. Over his shoulder he called, "Hate to break it to you, but you have been for six months."

She paused for a moment. "Well, yeah. But as of today, I'm a good one," she told him.

"You're a good what?" Alex asked grumpily as he walked up to the bar. "Joe, I need beer."

And there goes my good mood, Jo thought as she slumped slightly. "You're talking to me now, I take it?" she asked accusedly.

He shrugged. "I was never not talking to you. It was you who wasn't talking to me."

As much as she wanted to resent him for that statement, she knew it was true. She hadn't said a word to him in almost a month. She hadn't said anything to Medusa either, for that matter. "Fine," she huffed. "But you _have _been avoiding me."

As much as he wanted to resent her for that statement, he knew it was true. While she'd been busy not talking to him, he'd been busy ducking around corners and hiding behind nurses whenever he'd seen her. He'd also been avoiding Meredith- or rather, he was trying to avoid her. It hadn't been working all that well. "Whatever," he muttered. "I'm kind of an ass like that."

Jo laughed bitterly. "Believe me, I know." She pushed her tequila away, no longer all that thirsty.

Alex didn't bother asking what she meant by that. He just had a small gulp of beer before pushing it away. He wasn't much thirsty right then either.

Staring at her hands, Jo decided to try her luck with some deep, meaningful conversation. "So, I kind of miss you," she said and glanced at him from the corner of her eye, wanting to see his reaction.

Keeping his expression blank as he thought over what she'd said, he remained quiet for a few moments. "I kind of miss you too," was all he said. He then reached for the beer; he suddenly felt that he probably shouldn't be sober for wherever the conversation was headed.

"Not like, in _that _way," she assured him hurriedly. "I just miss hanging out with you. We were friends, you know? I mean, that's totally normal... Right?"

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah. 'Course."

She wondered whether or not he picked up on her little white lie. That she most certainly _had _missed him in _that _way. Most likely he didn't. After all, she did miss hanging out with him- she just happened to miss him more than that. And as he'd said- well, agreed- it was normal.

There was nothing weird about feeling a dull ache inside her chest everytime she saw him walk in the other direction whenever they were in the same room together. Just like there was nothing weird about how she wanted to bang her head against the wall each time she couldn't summon the courage to look him in the eye, let alone speak to him. Just like there was nothing weird about when she'd been on cloud nine after Medusa had said that he liked her- a lot, she'd thought. Just like there was nothing weird about the way her heart exploded into a million deadly shards when he flirted with other women and she couldn't suck up her pride long enough to admit she was jealous.

It was all normal.

"So I think," Alex said. "That we should go back to being friends. Like before."

Jo frowned, just the tiniest bit. "You mean we'll work together again, hang out when you have no surgeries and I have no scut again, get drinks here on Fridays again... All that?"

He nodded. "Yeah," he agreed nonchalantly, as though it didn't really matter to him. "And we can act as though nothing ever happened between us. No need for things to be awkward."

Slowly, she wrapped her head around the idea. It might just work. "Sounds good," she said, smiling a somewhat fake smile. "So, _buddy_, how was your day?" She quickly downed her tequila and grinned her most wicked grin at him. "How's that?" she asked.

He couldn't help but laugh and think about how much he'd missed her. "Well done. And my day was pretty damn great, _friend_, thanks for asking," he said. "So what are you oh-so amazing at?"

She couldn't help but laugh as well. "I said I was good, not amazing," she corrcted. "And I am, in your words, oh-so-amazing at being a doctor."

"Please, you have to have something better than that," he teased. "I could have told you that anyday."

She poked out her tongue and, as if nothing had ever stopped them in the first place, they went back to pretending everything was normal.

**A/N **Spoiler Alert; next chapter is only set at the bar for some of it, most if it will be at Alex's house. Hugs and Kisses, bye.


	7. Drinks Away From the Bar

**A/N **So I'd just like to say that tonights episode of Grey's made me ship Jo and Alex together, like, a billion times more than I already did. Which was quite a bit to begin with.

Also, this is going to be one of the last few chapters, I think. I have somewhere between two and five chapters left. Once I'm done with it I'd like to write a fic about Jo and Alex that would fit in with the show's story.

**Disclaimer **13 year olds don't tend to own major TV shows, so no. Not mine.

**Drinks Away From the Bar**

A few months after they'd agreed to pretend that they'd never slept together, Alex laughed at Jo's pathetic aim. They were playing darts, and she couldn't even hit the board. It was the most entertaining thing he'd seen in a long time.

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to stab you with this," she said in what was supposed to be a menacing tone as she held up the dart in a somewhat threatening matter.

He laughed and plucked it free of her grip. Holding it up, he threw it at the board. It landed smack in the middle. He turned and smirked. "And you buy the next round," he said.

Grumbling, Jo headed to the bar. Alex sat down just as Meredith walked up. "Alex," she said. "Why aren't you at the party?"

He raised an eybrow. "What party?"

This made her eyes almost bulge out of her head. "You don't know? Cristina's throwing a massive party." She nodded along with her own words, as if to reinforce them. "It looks pretty wild."

Jo appeared with two beers. "Here, you big mean- oh, hi, Dr Grey."

"I told you," Meredith said. "It's Meredith." She looked between the two companions. "I wasn't interrupting anything, was I?"

"No," Alex and Jo replied in unison.

Alex glared at Meredith before turning to Jo. "You want to go to a party?" he asked, in a tone that implied she really didn't have a choice in the matter.

xx

"This is," Jo started unsurely. "Nice?"

Alex barked out a laugh. "You dislike Dr Yang, right? You can help me kill her."

Like Meredith had said, the party was pretty wild. Cristina had music- and not good music, either- blaring as loudly as possible and what could be the entire surgical staff of Seattle Grace Mercy West had filled the house to its limits. Plates of food were scattered on random pieces of furniture, along with lots and lots of alcohol.

Smiling, Jo raised an eyebrow. "Aren't the interns supposed to be the ones who throw crazy and out of control parties?" she joked, lightly elbowing him in the ribs.

"Then go throw one in yourapartment," he suggested. "Then I can stop this one."

She shook her head. "Live a little, Karev. Drink some beer, dance with a hot girl, eat some... actually I wouldn't touch that food if I were you, but drinking and dancing is good."

With a roll of his eyes. "Come on, then," he said, motioning to the middle of the room.

"What?" she asked, confused.

He grinned. "You said to dance with a hot girl, so come on."

Laughing, she followed him. "Whatever."

Hours later, they sat on the stairs taking turns to drink from a bottle of tequila. "This is ridiculous," Alex said.

Jo nodded. "It _is _after four in the morning. Possibly a bit out of control," she admitted with a grin.

He laughed. "Yeah," he agreed sarcastically. "Possibly."

It was just as they finished the bottle of tequila that Cristina stumbled up. "I'm a little bit drunk," she said. "And there are all these people in our house, and I'm not sure why they're all here but I really need you to get them out, because I don't think I can."

Alex and Jo looked at each other before bursting out in laughter that was bordering on hysterical. "She's only a little bit drunk," Alex repeated.

"Oh, only a little for sure," Jo said, grinning broadly. Cristina then disappeared, and she sighed. "I suppose we should help her. I mean, put us next to her and we're dead sober."

And so the two of them stood and started to herd people out, Alex by making incredibly sleazy comments and Jo by singing extremely horrendously in people's ears. It wasn't long before almost everyone had exited the building. The few who were still there were helping them clean up.

Except for one guy who was far too drunk for his own good.

"Hey, you," he called angrily. Both thought he looked vaguely familiar. Alex looked around before pointing to himself. "Yeah, you. Karev."

Jo glanced between the two. "Hey, you're an intern, right? You transferred to Seattle Pres a few months ago?"

He nodded. "Yeah, that's me. It's Jimmy. Hi." And then he walked over and punched Alex in the jaw.

xx

"I can not believe that just happened," Jo said, smiling slightly, twenty minutes later. A "fight had ensued between Alex and Jimmy, and Alex had come out of it in decidedly better condition. He was now seated on the kitchen bench as she inspected the small lacerations on his right hand and face.

He winced as she dabbed antiseptic cream over it. "Ouch," he grumbled darkly. "Be gentle."

She rolled her eyes. "Man up, Karev. You just beat the crap out of a drunk guy and don't even need stitches- in other words, you're fine," she said. A minute later, "Done." She jumped up next time and looked at him curiously from the corner of her eyes. "So what'd you do to him?"

Grimacing, Alex looked away. "I may have slept with his girlfriend," he admitted sheepishly.

Jo laughed. "And you're mad that he punched you?" she said incredulously. "Seriously, dude. I knew you were a whore, but that's low."

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend!" he cried. "I'm not that bad, God. Cut me a little slack." He slid off the bench. "You sure I don't need stitches?"

She slid down with him and slapped him on the shoulder. "You are _such _a wuss," she accused.

Her hair had fallen into her face and was tickling her eyes. She couldn't stop herself from tensing and holding her breath as his hand reached up and lightly brushed the loose strands behind her ear.

A moment later, before she had really adjusted to his closeness enough to stop it, his lips were on her's. He pushed her back into the bench as he deepened the kiss. The bench dug into the small of her back but she really didn't care.

All she could think of was that he was kissing her- again- and that she really couldn't find it anywhere in her to stop him.

**A/N **And that's it! Sorry the wait was longer than usual, all you constant readers probably got used to my daily updates.

Reviews make me even happier than Grey's being back.


	8. Jealousy

**A/N **So I've decided to hold off on writing another Jolex story until later, and will instead continue with this one.

**Disclaimer **I would kill to own Grey's, but I don't. Seriously.

**Jealous**

"You're going on a date with _Ross_?" Alex asked incredulously.

Jo glared at him. He was definitely jealous, she thought. But it had been three months since the party and just because they had slept together countless times since then didn't mean he had any right to be jealous. It's not like they were dating, they were just... rabbits. Yeah, she thought. That's it. They were really horny rabbits. "It's not a date," she groaned.

He snorted. "Yes, it is," he pressed. "You're all dressed up and in approximately two minutes Shane Ross will be picking you up from this very bar to take you to another, slightly classier bar that serves fancy food. And then you'll get drunk and you're a slutty drunk so you'll end up doing it in the bathroom or his car." He smirked as he ordered a drink from Joe.

"Actually," Jo said lightly. "I reserve the bathroom for _really _special guys. I don't think Shane and I are there yet."

The bar was unusually packed that night and she hadn't spoken particularly loudly so she wasn't entirely sure Alex had heard her. But then a grin worked its way onto his face and he shrugged. "Car, then," he said. "Either way, Ross gets laid tonight."

She rolled her eyes. "You're mean," she said with another glare. "And in case you weren't aware, you sound extremely jealous right now."

Scoffing, "You wish, Wilson. I don't get jealous."

"Right. Whatever."

Twenty minutes later, Alex was laughing rather obnoxiously. "What I meant by 'two minutes' was two minutes times ten."

"He did _not _stand me up," Jo stated, clearly in denial. "I mean, people don't stand me up. Look at me; I'm hot." She popped an almond into her mouth and frowned.

He continued laughing. "And far too modest," he teased sarcastically. "And saying that he stood you up means it was a date. Just so you know." He reached his hand over and snatched her untouched shot of tequila before downing it. "Thanks for that."

She sighed angrily. "Fine, okay," she conceded. "It may have been a date." She buried her head in her hands. "Oh, God," she mumbled. "I agreed to a date with Shane freaking Ross. Shane's not even that much my friend, and I definitely don't want to _date _him."

"Then why did you say yes?"

"Because I did not _know _it was a date, idiot," Jo said dryly.

Alex grinned. "Sure you didn't, princess."

Her mouth fell open. She straightened up and looked away. "Well, that's just mean," she said haughtily. She ordered another shot of tequila and gulped it down before he could even think of taking it away.

"Would you rather Hobo-Jo?" he asked, curiosity that was, at best, mild lacing her tone. He watched as she munched on almond after almond. He was fairly sure her borderline creepy obsession with them was one of her more endearing traits.

After a string of mumbled cursing, "I would rather you take your stupid, condescending nicknames and shove them up your-"

"Want more tequila?" Joe asked in a 'please don't kill someone in my bar' sort of manner.

Nodding eagerly, she realised that if she got anything more than tipsy then she'd probably end up turning into her rabbit alter ego. My gosh, she thought, that makes me sound like a superhero. Or evil mastermind. Either way, it wasn't a particularly good thing.

With a sigh, Alex shook his head. "Who the hell goes on a date with Ross?"

"Jealous," Jo repeated in a sing-song voice.

He narrowed his eyes. "Watch it, Wilson," he warned.

She grinned. "You know, I think we've seen each other naked enough times to be on a first name basis," she suggested.

"Fine," he said. Watch it, _Josephine_."

Choking on an almond. "I take it back. 'Wilson' is great. Hell, call me 'Hobo-Jo' if you must."

He raised an eyebrow. "Note to self," he began. "Josephine does not like to be referred to as 'Josephine'."

"Truly stunning observational skills, really," she deapanned. "But no matter what you say, if anyone asks I'm telling them you're jealous."

Laughing, "You do that, princess. And I'll tell them that you got stood up by _Shane Ross_."

"Jerk."

The two sat there for at least an hour without talking before Alex looked at her, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Want me to kick ass?"

"Well, that depends," Jo said thoughtfully. "Are you offering to do that because he stood me up or because you're jealous I was going on a date?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Continue," he said, because he was a man of many words.

She smiled. "If you'd do it because he stood me up, then I could do it myself. If you'd do it because you're jealous, then go for it."

"That's twisted logic," he stated after ordering another drink. He grinned at her and she laughed in that loud, somewhat unfeminine way of her's.

"Maybe so,"she admitted. "But it makes me feel better about myself."

"I suppose that's fair," he agreed.

It was at that precise moment that Shane walked up. "Uh, hi, listen, I'm-"

"Dude, you stood up Hobo-Jo," Alex said in way that implied it was simply unbelievable. "Who does that?"

Jo nodded. "It was pretty uncool. I could be holed up in a bathroom crying right now."

"Wanna get out of here?" he asked.

She nodded and picked up her coat. "I would love that."

They stood up and left, without so much as a glance back at Shane. "You are _so _jealous," Jo muttered when they were out of the bar.

**A/N **So this is a little shorter and not quite as good as usual, but I was kind of short of ideas. I hope you like it anyway :)

Anyway, I have an idea to run by you guys. Where I am (Australia) it is an hour until it will be the 14th, which will make MY 14th in seventeen days (the 1st). I've decided to write you guys a birthday one-shot to fit into this story. I, personally, would like to see Jo's birthday, but since I love all the people who read this, I'm going to put it to a vote. Just drop a review or PM (I don't want to make a poll) telling me whether you'd like it to be Jo's birthday, Alex's birthday or one of their friends birthday's which they attend the party of. You have until the 30th, people.

And yes, I will be updating between now and then, so don't fret.


	9. Old Friend

**A/N **Do any of you people watch House? I have to ask because it's kind of awesome.

Anyway, I'm not sure why, but I felt the need to add an OC. He'll most likely just be in this chapter, since he's really stupid and annoys the crap out of me and I'm certain he'll have the same affect on you people as well.

**Disclaimer **If anyone wants to buy me the rights to GA, I'm all for it.

**Old Friend**

"Hide me!" Jo whispered harshly as she stumbled up to Alex and the bar. "Do you think I'd fit in your jacket or- Joe! Can I sit behind the bar?"

Alex and Joe glanced between each other. "She's your girlfriend," Joe shrugged. He headed away to serve someone else.

"She is not," Alex called indignantly after him.

She rolled her eyes. "Yes, because that would be _such _the hardship for you, I'm sure," she muttered. "But seriously, I need you to- oh, crap." She laid her head on the bar and grimaced. "Too late."

A blonde guy with an expensive jacket who looked about Alex's age walked up. "Jo-jo!" he said, opening his arms for a hug. Jo ignored this. "It's been too long. How are you doing?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. 'Jo-jo' he mouthed in Jo's direction. When she just shook her head, he turned to the guy. "Hi," he said, sticking his hand out for a hand shake. "I'm Alex."

The guy acted as though Alex wasn't even there. "I have to go park my car, but I'll be back in a minute. We need to catch up, Jo-jo." He winked and left.

She glared after him. "Oh. My. God," she said in a tone that clearly stated her distatse for the man. She looked at Alex. "If he comes back, I'm going to kill myself," she informed him. "And you're going to help. We'll admit me as a patient with imaginary symptoms, and you can give me meds that will kill me. You cool with that?"

Pretending she didn't ask that, Alex smirked. "You dated that guy?" he asked. "Nice. You have impeccable taste in men."

"You either just complimented or insulted yourself and, since I detected sarcasm, I'm fairly certain it was the latter," she said, looking pointedly at him. "'That guy's' name is Carl, and why do you assume we dated?"

He snorted. "Because you asked me to kill you if he came back. The only reason you'd want that would be if you dated him, or if you randomly became suicidal. Which you didn't," he explained. Then, he frowned. "Who dates a guy named Carl?"

Shushing him, "He's back, he's back," she said frantically. "Do you think I'd fit in your coat?"

Carl walked up in a way that just screamed 'I'm better than you' and sat next to Jo. "So, Jo-jo, what's new with you?" He grinned at her and ordered them both shots of vodka.

Seeming to think that it would help her, Alex answered before she could. "Actually, she goes by 'Hobo-jo' now. Or 'princess'. Whichever you prefer, really."

"And I don't drink vodka anymore," she added, absently pushing the shot glass to Alex. "So thanks, but no thanks."

But Carl was too busy staring daggers at Alex to hear her. "You're actually with this oaf?" he asked as he jerked a thumb in his direction.

"I am not an _oaf_," Alex muttered angrily, downing the vodka.

"And they're not dating, either," Joe said. "They just spend a whole lot of time together and sleep together every now and then. Quite interesting, to be honest." He gave Jo a shot of tequila and whispered, "On the house."

Jo gave a bitter laugh and did the shot. "Not every now and then," she said quietly enough that only Alex could hear her.

He smirked and looked at Carl. "You know, Carl, I think you sound jealous."

Carl narrowed his eyes. "Of what?" He asked Joe for more vodka and scowled down at it.

Alex laughed. "Told you, princess. Guys don't like being told that they're jealous."

"Especially when they're not," Joe piped up.

Jo buried her head in her hands. This may just be the most awkward situation she'd ever been in. There she was, sitting at a bar getting gradually drunk on tequila, discussing jealousy with her ex, the guy she was sleeping with and having occasional input from the bartender.

"Okay, Alex, you were right. I'm sincerely, honestly, _terribly _sorry," she said. "Joe, go get Heather something to drink before she implodes. Carl, feel free to leave any time now."

Carl shook his head. "Nope," he said bitterly. "This is way too much fun."

And so for the next half hour, Jo was stuck between two men glaring at each other and not being able to make small talk with either because the other would get mad and sulk.

Finally, she slammed her fist down on the table. She winced and shook her hand lightly as soon as she did so. "Right. That's it. Carl, over there," she pointed at Heather, who was sitting across the room, completely unaware of what was happening. "She's blonde, drunk and slutty. In other words, she's just your type. Bye."

Sighing, Carl glared at Alex one last time and headed off to Heather. "Oh, thank God," Jo muttered, pressing her index finger against her temple.

"So," Alex said, drawing the word out longer than necessary. "That guy's kind of in love with you. Not to mention possessive. Did he pee on you to mark his territory?"

Jo nodded. "Yes, and I didn't get a restraining order against him," she deadpanned. "And he's not in love with me. He's just... an ass. Kind of like you, actually."

"What happened with you two, then?" he asked curiously, signalling Jo for another beer. He looked at her expectantly.

Letting out a huff of air, she shrugged. "Pretty common story, really. Boy meets girl, girl falls for boy, boy pretends to fall for girl, girl leaves boy alone for five minutes, boy cheats on girl. But then, there's a plot twist; he goes and tells everyone about it."

Alex patted her on the back in what was supposed to be a sympathetic gesture. "Ouch. Want me to kick his ass?"

Laughing, "You don't have to offer to kick the ass of every guy who pisses me off. You'd have to bash yourself up and, despite how incredibly entertaining that would be, I'd feel kind of bad about it."

"And by the way, I am nothing like him."

She grinned. "No? Okay, I suppose you're _marginally _better."

Sometime later, Heather walked by them, hanging off Carl's arm. "Thanks," she muttered excitedly to Jo.

"Crap," Jo said once they were gone. "What have I done?"

She dissolved into a fit of giggles and didn't notice that for once Alex wasn't looking at her like he thought she was insane.

**A/N **See what I mean? Carl sucks.

I know that chapter didn't flow too well, but hopefully it still turned out okay?

Review, and don't forget to let me know whose birthday you want.


	10. BoyfriendGirlfriend

**A/N **And here it is! Chapter 10! I promise this is the last OC I will be adding; I just really felt like adding a parent like figure for Jo.

**Disclaimer **If you people think I'm Shonda Rimes, I think there's something wrong with you.

**Boyfriend/Girlfriend**

Jo barrelled through the bar door and stumbled to a halt at the table where Alex sat. "You're my boyfriend," she said, out of breath.

Choking on his water (it was the middle of the day, and somehow they were both off-call), he looked up. "Um, no. I am _not _your boyfriend," he replied, gesturing for her to have a seat.

She waved a hand. "Technicalities," she stated. "But listen, I need you to humour me for the next minute or so without any interruptions, okay?"

He slowly nodded.

"Good," she said. "Remember when I told you about Ms Schmidt? Well, she came to visit without telling me and Heather was speaking to her and accidentally said I was dating someone and then panicked and said that the guy's name was Alex. So for the next 3-6 days I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend."

Groaning, Alex glared at her. "And you don't know any other people with the name of Alex? It's not the most uncommon name, you know." He gulped down the rest of his water as she slipped into the seat next to him.

Jo shook her head. "Nope," she said, smiling slightly. "Or at least, none I could get to in a half hours' notice."

"Wait, half hour?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "When exactly am I expected to be your 'boyfriend'- not that I'm saying I'll do it."

She checked her watch. "Starting in about… fifty-five seconds. Give or take," she informed him, grinning wickedly. She glanced at the door to see a woman in her mid to late fifties walking in and turned to Alex. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You're awesome; I owe you. Showtime!"

He looked at the advancing, formidable looking lady. "I hate you," he said calmly to Jo.

Patting him on the arm, "Love you too." She stood up. "Ms Schmidt! Hi. It's _so _great to see you," she said, pulling the older woman into a hug.

Ms Schmidt smiled. "Hi, Jo. Is this the guy I've heard so much about?"

Jo paled. "Whatever Heather told you about him is not true, I swear," she said hurriedly.

"Yes, ma'am, that's me," Alex smiled, standing up and shaking her hand. "It's good to meet you."

Huh, Jo thought. He can be polite. She pulled her bag off of the chair and motioned for Ms Schmidt to sit with them. "So how have you been? I haven't talked to you in a while."

Rolling her eyes, Ms Schmidt waved away the question. "Oh, you don't want to hear about the life of a boring old lady. I want to hear about you two; how did you guys meet?"

Alex said, "Work."

Jo said, "Here." She kicked him under the table and gave him a look that clearly stated 'leave it to me, idiot,'. "We technically met at work, but the place we first really talked was here," she explained, smiling and holding onto Alex's hand.

Ms Schmidt looked between them. "Okay," she said slowly. "How long have you been dating?"

Jo said, "3 months."

Alex said, "6 months." He looked at her, amused. "She doesn't count the first three months," he told Ms Schmidt. "She says we weren't 'official' back then." He drew traces on Jo's arm with his fingers. "You want me to get you anything to drink, babe?" he asked, pretending to be the sweet boyfriend type.

"Would you? Because lemonade would really be great right now," she said, silently wishing for tequila.

He smiled and looked at Ms Schmidt. "Would you like me to get anything?" She shook her head with a polite 'no, thank you,' smile and he walked off.

Ms Schmidt looked pointedly at Jo. "You two aren't dating," she stated plainly.

Jo, taken aback, stammered, "W-what? Of course we are." That was a lie if she ever heard it, she thought, trying her best to look truthful. While she could bring on the tears at the drop of a hat, she'd never been the best liar.

When Alex came back and passed Jo her lemonade, Ms Schmidt looked at him. "You and Jo aren't dating."

"Um, yes we are?" he asked, looking between the two women, confused.

Ms Schmidt looked doubtful. "Are you sure?" she said defiantly.

Alex laughed. "Fairly sure. I mean, she moved in with me last week, and she doesn't pay rent so I think it's a safe bet to say that we're dating." He sat back in his seat and smiled.

"It's a nice house," Jo mentioned casually, and Alex fought the urge to laugh. "There's lots of nice… furniture. Like, a couch. I bought the couch. It's a nice couch."

Checking her watch, Ms Schmidt sighed. "I'm going to have to get going in a minute. I need to find a hotel to stay at."

Alex glanced at Jo. "You can stay with us?" he suggested. "We have plenty of room." He drank from his glass.

When she hesitated, Jo pressed on. "Please. The house is too lonely. We need company."

Ms Schmidt nodded after a moment. "Well, if you're sure. But right now I have to use the bathroom." She headed off.

Jo turned to Alex, and promptly began to laugh. And laugh, and laugh, and laugh. "You realise that you just agreed to play my boyfriend a whole lot more for the next week?" She laughed some more.

He shrugged. "Eh, who cares? It's not that hard. And the lady needs a place to stay. I was being nice."

"You being nice is weird," she said, drinking from her glass

Laughing as well, "You having people who actually like you is weird, but hey, did I say anything?"

"Now you have," she mumbled and smiled at him, which he returned. "So, you're pretty good at playing my boyfriend. It kind of makes me wonder…" she trailed off, wicked grin plastered back on her features.

Glaring, "I still hate you."

**A/N **So this is kind of short, but I don't care. I like it.

And oh my gosh, she bought him a couch. With money that was technically his, but still! Anyone, so the birthday chapter (remember to tell me whose b'day you want) will involve lots of other characters, including Meredith, Cristina and Heather.

Review!


	11. Bad Idea

**A/N **New chapter! There's very little actual interaction between Jo and Alex in this and really not that much Jo at all- it's mainly Alex-centric. I apologise in advance and am sitting here hoping you won't throw rotten fruit at me. I'd also like to say that I know I don't reply to many of the reviews, but I want you to know that they literally make my day and I love you all for them.

**Disclaimer **Anything familiar is not mine.

**Bad Idea**

"You're still sleeping sleeping with Karev," Heather stated simply. She was playing darts with Jo- or rather, kicking Jo's ass at darts- and was very slightly drunk.

Jo choked on her beer. "What?" she said incredulously. "No- no, I'm not. I mean, why would you thi-"

Heather sighed. "You're sleeping with Karev." She downed some of her beer and grinned. "It's kind of obvious," she said. "He's even giving you like, a surgery a day."

"He is not," Jo grumbled, sounding wistful. "But, fine; I'm sleeping with him. Happy?" She reached over and stole Heather's beer, gulping it down her parched throat in seconds. "And any surgeries he lets me scrub in on is because I'm good. I'm not quite as pathetic as Leah... or Stephanie... or, you know, you."

Muttering something that was along the lines of 'sleeping with him sure as hell is pathetic', Heather shrugged. "Just, don't get emotionally attached. Trust me; it doesn't work. Go ask Leah for some confirmation about that." With that, she headed off to the bar to get herself a new drink. And to flirt with Joe- she hadn't yet realised he was gay.

Jo frowned. She had been emotionally attached long before they'd been having sex. She knew it, he knew it (she thought), and it was highly probable that every doctor in the damn hospital knew it. It wasn't like she went to great lengths to hide the fact. But, still, maybe Heather was right. Getting involved with a guy like him was _always _a bad idea.

xx

"I have to stop sleeping with her," Alex said for the billionth time that night. He sat at the bar with Meredith and Cristina and was on his fourth beer but was still sober. He didn't want to be sober. "I really have to stop sleeping with her. It's a bad thing. I'm a bad guy."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "We all already knew that, Karev," she informed him before doing a shot of tequila. "And what's wrong with sleeping with her? She's hot, you're... not extremely terrible looking. She's smart, too. Smart is good."

Finishing her water, Meredith looked him straight in the eye. "And she doesn't think I'm a demon," she said. "So she's the only one I approve of."

Scoffing, "Like I need your approval?" He shrugged. "I don't know... I just... I think she likes me or something." He stared glumly at his beer. This is exactly why I stopped sleeping with interns, he mentally scolded himself. Why the hell were all the cool chicks emotional and in touch with their feelings and shit?

His two friends looked at each other and burst out in simultaneous laughter. "Seriously, Alex," Meredith choked out before dissolving into another fit of giggles. "How did you not already know that?"

"She _is _kind of in love with you," Cristina agreed. "It's pretty obvious."

Alex groaned. "No! Don't you dare say that you... you evil wenches!" he cried, louder than he intended. Glancing up, he saw that about half the bar- including the woman they were currently discussing- had turned to look at him. Jo raised a questioning eyebrow, which he ignored. "This sucks," he said, quieter than before. "She's not supposed to have... feelings... for me." He said the word 'feelings' as though it were a dirty word. To him it kind of was.

"Well, I think the two of you are going to get married and have evil spawn babies and live happily ever after," Meredith said, somewhat dreamily. Alex and Cristina stared at her. "Oh. Did I say that out loud?" They nodded, and Cristina snorted. "Shut up! I'm pregnant; I can say whatever the hell I want."

"But I don't want to get married and make evil spawn babies and live happily ever after with her," Alex whined. "In fact, I want to _stop _the baby making activity with her. Right now. Today. As of this moment, I am no longer sleeping with Josephine Beatrice Wilson."

"You admitted to liking her," Meredith pointed out.

Cristina frowned. "Did you just refer to sex as 'the baby making activity'?" she asked. "Because that's disturbing."

He thought about mentioning that sex seemed to grant her with children rather frequently, but didn't really like the idea of going to work the next day with a black eye. So instead of calling her out, he ignored her completely and turned to Meredith. "That's irrelevant," he said. "Just because I happen to have feelings for her certainly doesn't mean she's allowed to have them for me."

"And her middle name is _Beatrice_? Cristina continued, basically talking to herself. She didn't seem to realise they weren't listening. It was also highly possible she just wanted to hear herself talk.

"You're a hypocrite," Meredith protested, her voice pitched just a fraction higher than usual. "And an idiot, but I won't single you out as one of those because she's pretty dumb too right now. You two are clearly crazy about each other. I mean, the two of you played house for like, two weeks, just to put the mind of an old teacher to rest."

Alex made a wild gesture with his hands. He was clearly frustrated. "Because of what your stupid intern told that old teacher," he clarified.

Shaking her head, "Alex, you're one of my best friends. But honestly? I feel the urge to slap you so hard across the face right now that your eyeballs literally fall out of their sockets. You are so freaking lucky that I'm pregnant. Just date the girl already! You two practically spend all your time together anyway."

"It's true," Cristina said, randomly deciding to rejoin the conversation. "We hardly see you anymore."

"Because Mere's pregnant and you're married," he replied, slightly bitter that they were leaving him behind.

She sucked in a deep breath and screeched, at the top of her lungs, "I'M. NOT. MARRIED!" And now the whole bar turned to stare at them. She gave anyone who looked like they might say something the finger.

After five minutes or so of the exact same argument, Meredith and Cristina announced they were leaving.

Once they were gone, Alex stopped for just a moment to wonder if they were right about him and Jo. He quickly shook away the thought, wishing it was as easy to dismiss his feelings. In his opinion, Jo was the kind of girl it wasn't easy to _not _have feelings for. In hindsight, getting involved with someone like her had probably been a bad idea.

xx

Hours later and the bar was emptying. Alex still sat by himself at the bar, staring at the back of Jo. She was alone, as Heather had left a while ago with one of the hospital's psychiatrists. Oddly fitting, he thought. From what he could tell, she was trying to improve her darts' skills. So far, she hadn't had much luck. Still, she hadn't turned around since Meredith and Cristina left.

"I have to stop sleeping with her, don't I?" he asked Joe.

Joe pressed his elbows on the bar and leaned over. "I can't tell you that. Do _you _want to stop sleeping with her?" Huh, Alex thought. Bartenders really are a lot like underpaid shrinks.

"You're no help," Alex grumbled, but made a decision nonetheless; he was going to stop partaking in the baby making activity with her once and for all.

It was at that precise moment that she turned around and caught his eye. She grinned and beckoned him over. He sighed and told himself he'd just have a game of darts with her. They were friends, after all.

"Hey," Jo said cheerfully as she held out a dart. "Want to play? And I mean that in the least dirtiest way possible."

Alex laughed. "Yeah, sure," he agreed. "And I won't even take your money this time; I'm just that nice of a guy." He took the dart and threw it. As usual, it landed right on the bullseye.

"Why do I even bother?" Jo asked as she took her turn. She had improved slightly, he'd give her that; this time it actually stuck in the board.

Sometime later- when Jo had lost seven straight rounds to him- Alex found himself staring at her. Again. "You want to get out of here?" he asked, not thinking in the least. Damn it, he thought. When she nodded, he sighed. Screw it. He didn't care that it was a bad idea; he'd stop sleeping with her after that night.

She grabbed her coat, not even pausing to think that it might be a bad idea.

**A/N **So this is the longest chapter yet. I'd bake myself a cookie, but I've decided to go off sugary food for a few weeks. So I'll eat some tofu instead. In the shape of a cookie.

I know I said I'd give you to the 30th to tell me whose birthday you want, but Alex seems to be the favourite and I got struck with an idea for it that I really want to start now. So, it's going to be Alex's birthday. And if any of you either offer ideas for one-shots that I will write and dedicate to you or tell me what your favourite chapter is, I'll message you and give you the vague outline of what will happen on Alex's birthday, as well as a few of the one-liners that will be in there. Before I upload it, obviously.

Review and I'll share my virtual birthday cake with you when the day comes.


	12. The Birthday

**A/N**The birthday chapter, as promised. Sorry it's later than I said, I was really busy having what was probably my best birthday yet. Virtual cake to all of you! (there's lemon slice, strawberry and cream mousse cake, pecan pie, blueberry tart, and chocolate Belgian swirl cheesecake- take your pick)

**Disclaimer **Maybe someone bought it for me as a present and hasn't told me, but I highly doubt it.

**The Birthday**

"Damn Medusa and Yang," Jo cried angrily. She was stomping around the hospital charting, looking for any sign of the two attendings she desperately needed to find. Much to her annoyance, 24 year old med students/the interns who would be replacing her in two months when she became a resident were following her around like lost puppies.

Heather started walking alongside her. "Why are we damning them? Have they been doing sinful things?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Not answering at first, Jo reached over and grabbed the coffee cup out of her best friend's hand and gulped down the scalding drink in a very short amount of time. "We're damning them," she stated. "Because they won't answer their pagers and I can't find either of them anywhere!"

"Right," Heather said, though due to her short attention span she was rapidly losing interest. "And why are we looking for them?"

Looking at Heather as though she were stupid, Jo sighed. "It's Alex's birthday and I have to get him a kickass present in the next 12 hours but I have absolutely no idea what he wants. Yang and Medusa are his best friends; they will." The only good thing that had come of her day so far was that she hadn't run into him and therefore hadn't had to awkwardly brush him off. She knew for a fact that he was getting drunk all alone like a pathetically sad person back at his house; he wouldn't be in all day.

The two girls arrived in the tunnels Alex had showed Jo. They sat down on the old gurneys while the med students stood opposite of them. Heather frowned. "What are they…?" she trailed off, unsure of how to phrase the question.

"I have no idea," Jo replied, shrugging. "They've been following me around all day. They are _slightly_ useful, though." She grinned. "Watch this; hey, people, I want ice-cream."

All 15 of them scattered. They'd be back in 20-30 minutes with fifteen cups of ice-cream, Jo knew.

"Nice," Heather said. "So why are you buying him a present? I mean, just because you're sleeping with him doesn't mean you have to be friends. Now I think about it, you're kind of like a classy prostitute."

Jo gave her the best 'what the hell?' look she could muster. "Out!" she yelled. "Out now. You're no help at all."

A short while after Heather had left but before her lackeys had returned, Jo struck gold. Neither Cristina nor Meredith had shown themselves, but the next best thing materialised; Jackson Avery.

"Thank God!" Jo said. "I am _so _glad you're here right now." She jumped up and was so glad, in fact, that she pulled him into a hug.

Needless to say, Jackson was pretty shocked when she released him. He looked around awkwardly. "Uh, hi, Wilson. Listen, I, um, I gotta g-"

"No, no. Shut up. You're friends with Alex, right?" she questioned. He nodded, seeming incredibly uncomfortable. "Good. What do I get him for his birthday? Something that I can get sometime this afternoon, preferably."

He looked at her. "Uh, I don't know. Try a horny intern. Yeah, do that. Get one of your friends and take her to the party and serve her up. Nobody will question it."

Taken aback, Jo shook her head. "What? Ew, no. I'm not feeding his sex addiction. Try again," she said, completely aware of the fact that she fed that particular addiction rather frequently.

Before he could answer, Stephanie barrelled in. "Sorry I took so long," she mumbled as she started taking off her shirt. She saw Jo and stopped in her tracks. "Jo!" she cried. "Um, hi."

Jo looked between them. "Hi, Steph…" she said. She raised her eyebrows at Jackson. "Speaking of horny interns, I think I'm scarred for life. I'm going to make myself scarce now, because this is way beyond weird. Bye and, uh, have fun!" she called as she rushed out.

As she left, she heard Stephanie yelling in embarrassment.

"That was awkward," Jo muttered as she headed past the med students who, sure enough, were all carrying some sort of ice-cream.

xx

Knocking back his first beer of the day, Alex grimaced. He was bored out of his mind, but refused to break tradition. He didn't care that it was only 9 in the morning; he'd gotten off call at midnight and it was his day off. Therefore, he could drink all that he wanted.

"I'm an old man," he muttered bitterly, and decided to call Jo. Jo would make him feel better. She always did. He fumbled around the couch for his phone. After she didn't answer her phone or pager what had to be at least 5 times, he decided to leave a message. "Hey! Princess. Get your ass over here and drink with me. I'm lonely, and it's my birthday so you have to do what I say." He hung up and sighed; there was no way she'd go for that. Then he realised that while he may not be required at work, she was still technically an intern, so she couldn't come whether she wanted to or not.

Birthdays are stupid, he thought.

xx

Jo was hitting her head repeatedly against the counter at the nurse's station when Arizona Robbins made an appearance.

"Hey, Wilson," she said, surprise lacing her tone. "What are you doing here? I thought you'd be with Alex. It's his birthday, you know." She sipped her coke and smiled; as usual, her perpetual perkiness irked the ever-pessimistic Jo.

"I'm an intern," Jo stated flatly. "I'm here because I have to be. And I know it's his birthday. I'd be a terrible friend if I didn't." She went back to repeatedly paging Yang and Medusa, hoping the cheerful lady would leave her to her rot in her misery.

Arizona nodded knowingly. "You don't know what to get him." It wasn't a question.

Scoffing, "Of course I do." Jo faked offence. "I bought him the best- yeah, I have no clue." She stopped feigning ignorance and silently prayed Arizona would have an answer for her.

To her credit, she did. Only, it was the worst idea Jo had ever heard. "Oh, that's alright. Just go down to the gift shop and get him something for there. They have heaps of good crap. Hint; pink bears and fluffy things are a man's best friend."

And with that, the attending walked away so steadily and surely that you'd never guess she was missing a leg.

Jo turned to the med students who were currently standing with their backs pressed up against the wall. She had actually come to be rather fond of them- or rather, fond of what she could make them do. "Minions! Go buy me chocolate. Bucket-loads of it. And not crappy cafeteria chocolate; I want the good stuff." Remembering Alex's preference, she added, "Dark. I want dark chocolate."

"You'll make a great attending," Heather laughed as she walked past.

"Better than you will," Jo called after her.

It was an hour or so later when the two people she really needed decided to grace the hospital with their dark and twist presence.

Meredith and Cristina walked in with apple juice and black coffee, respectively. Jo scurried up to them, halting them in their tracks.

"Where the hell have you two been?" she asked the stunned attendings. "I've been looking all over for you, and you haven't been answering your pagers or phones an-"

Meredith cut her off with a laugh. "Geez, what happened? We were just driving around town." She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Wilson, you okay?"

Jo scoffed. "Driving around Seattle for hours, a likely story," she said. "You do realise it's Alex's birthday, right?"

"Yeah," Meredith said slowly. "I bought him a present. The new iPhone, because obscenely rich and it was the least I could do."

"Really?" Cristina asked her friend. "I got him a really big mug. I personalised it to say, 'Hi! I'm Dr Evil Spawn; trust me with your children's lives.' He's going to love it." She seemed rather proud of herself.

If she wasn't so amused, Jo would have laughed. "Well, that's great. All I can't think of anything, and the only suggestions I've been given are a horny intern and fluffy pink teddy bear. I need your help." She said it in a rush, and stopped to catch her breath before adding, "Please."

Cristina shrugged. "Go with the horny intern. Try Murphy; she's whore-like enough that she'd go on a date with a crackhead hobo," she suggested. "And even I have to admit, Alex is a step above a crackhead hobo."

"You could be the horny intern," Meredith cried loudly, and a few people turned to stare.

Glaring. "No, Yang. And that's disgusting, Meredith. No way in hell am I doing that." Jo then decided that Cristina was too mean and Meredith was too hormonal for either of them to be of any help whatsoever.

"Fine," Cristina sighed. "How about sexual favours?"

"Ooh, I like sexual favours. You can never go wrong with sexual favours," Meredith agreed. "It's his 31st, so you can write him like, a coupon for 31 sexual favours. From you, obviously."

Jo didn't even bother responding to that, she just turned and walked away.

"Party at his place tonight," Meredith yelled. "10 o'clock. Be there."

xx

"I don't like this," Alex said later that night as Cristina's bad music rang out loudly enough to be annoying through the house.

Jo laughed. They were both relatively sober and had somehow ended up with him on the couch and her perched on his lap. "It's your birthday; make them leave," she replied, staying still as he plaited her hair. Yes, as it was, Alex Karev knew how to plait hair. She didn't even want to know how he's gained that knowledge.

Laughing along with her, Alex pointed out, "You really think I can stop the Twisted Sisters? I mean, what they want, they get. I have no choice." Finished with her hair, his hands absently settled on her waist as she leant back into his chest.

Neither seemed to realise- though they probably wouldn't care if they did- just how much of a couple they looked like.

"You know," Jo started. "I almost had to choose between giving you Leah or myself as a present."

"Yet you went with chocolate," he said, feigning outrage. "That's it; get out."

Again, she laughed. "You think anyone would notice if we disappeared. To, say, your bedroom?"

"Probably not."

"Good," she said. "Then let's go." She stood up and grabbed his hand, dragging him into the hall. Pressing her lips to his, she giggled. "I guess I kind of am your present, huh?"

He smirked. "Way better than chocolate."

**A/N **I actually kind of loved this chapter, even though it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Alex was originally trashed out of his mind, but it just worked out to flow better with him sober. And it wasn't at the bar, AT ALL. Wow. Btw, if any of you want to check out my tumblr (I post a lot of Grey's) my url is greys-is-quotable. If you do, you should most definitely ask me anything about anything because for some unknown reason I like answering questions.

Leave your thoughts?


	13. Got It Bad

**A/N **Guess what? My memorisation of the periodic table apparently got me into the top science class, when I failed almost all of the tests last year. I'm pretty sure it was a mistake, but I'm not complaining.

**Disclaimer **I'm not Shonda, people. I would never have killed Lexie... or Mark... or George... okay, you get the point.

**Got It Bad**

"How do I look, drunken bar people?" Jo yelled as she entered the bar. When a few guys raised their glasses to her and a couple of girls mumbled a response, she frowned. That wasn't the reaction she had been hoping for. Shaking it off, she headed over to Alex. "How do I look?"

Alex looked her up and down, taking in her black and pink tie-dyed dress. "Like you're wearing a dress," he responded, taking a sip from his beer.

_That _wasn't the reaction she'd been hoping for, either. Glaring at him, she sat down next to him. "Obviously," she muttered, annoyed.

"Kidding, kidding," he relented. "You look hot."

Grinning, she said, "Thank you." After a moment, she felt the need to explain further. "I'm having sex tonight, you see," she informed him, causing him to choke on his beer. "So I figured I should look half-decent for that."

"That's... nice," he replied. "And who are you having sex with?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, douche; it's not you. I'm going to hang out here until some cute guy offers to buy me a drink. And then I'll just wing it."

"Sounds great," he muttered. "What type of guys are we looking for? Blondes?"

Smirking, she glanced at his hair. "Nah," she said. "I prefer guys with dark hair, to be honest."

The two grinned at each other before a heavily pregnant Meredith plopped down next to Alex. "Sexual tension," she said in a sing-song voice, nudging Alex in the ribs. "Get me water, Joe," she yelled at the bored-looking bartender.

"I want beer," Jo added. Looking at Alex's questioning eyebrow (she usually drank tequila), she shrugged. "A beer drinking girl is sexier than a tequila drinking one."

Meredith shook her head. "Drunk is drunk, Wilson. It doesn't matter what you drink to get there." She downed her water in a second before asking for another one. "Being pregnant is stupid," she announced. "I'm fat, I eat weird food, and I need to pee way too much. Not to mention the crying."

"You cry all the time anyway," Alex said, trying his best to ignore the suggestive eyebrows she was directing at nobody in particular but were obviously meant for him. He turned his back on her, grinning tightly at Jo. "So, Jo, let's find you a one-night stand, shall we?"

Nodding eagerly, Jo started scanning the bar. She wouldn't tell him this, but the only reason she was so determined to find someone to hook up with was so that she could stop having sex with _him_. She was trying quite hard to convince herself that she only thought she was in love with him was because she was lonely, and she was only sleeping with him because she hadn't been looking for anyone else.

Of course, this wasn't working all that well.

"I like him," she said half-heartedly after an hour or so, pointing to a random guy who looked about three seconds from making out with a blonde twig. Meredith had left a while ago and she was well on her way to being drunk. She had attempted- and failed- at picking up multiple guys, and was starting to think it had been a bad idea.

Holding back his laughter out of loyalty, Alex shook his head. "You don't want him. He was making out with that redhead not long ago. He's a whore."

"You mean like you?" Jo replied dryly, though couldn't help but be impressed by the way he knew his surroundings so well. Sighing, "Am I just not as hot as I think I am?"

He shook his head. "Trust me; you're plenty hot."

She frowned. "Do I have a terrible personality, then?"

"You're good on that, too."

Frustrated, she stood up and started jumping up and down. "I'm. Going. To. Throw. A. Tantrum," she wailed. Stopping her jumping, "What the hell is so bad about me, huh?"

Alex, slightly scared of her, gently pulled her back to her seat. "There's nothing bad about you," he soothed, not entirely sarcastic. "It's them; they're all idiots. You're great."

"Now you're just trying to shut me up," she accused.

"Well, duh," he laughed, drinking his beer and ruffling her hair. "Seriously, though, they all suck."

Trying to figure out if he was serious or not, she groaned for the umpteenth time that night. "Thanks, I guess."

Sighing, said, "I'd like to make it known that I'm only doing this because I'm kind of drunk and you're kind of depressing."

Before Jo could question what he was doing, Alex was standing on the bar and yelling for everyone to shut up. "Oi! All you dumb guys have no idea what you're missing," he said, gesturing wildly to Jo. "She helps you scam hotel rooms and buys couches. It doesn't even matter that both of these things are entirely self-serving, she's still kind of awesome. That is all. Thank you, and goodnight."

He stepped down and, without even a glance at Jo, headed out the door, muttering, "Idiots."

"Did that just happen?" she asked Joe, shocked. Suddenly, every guy in the bar swarmed around her announcing their names and numbers. Except, she no longer had any interest in having sex that night whatsoever.

Joe only shook his head and walked away. When he was out of earshot of her, he grinned and cleaned a glass. "Guy's got it bad," he chuckled.

**A/N **I know, I know, it was short, I'm sorry, don't hate me. On a happier note, let's just all take a moment to let the fact that Meredith ships Jolex sink in. And while we're at it, let's just all appreciate that look he gave her at the end of the episode.

Reviews make me smile (and reading them helps me prolong my homework)


	14. Moving

**Moving**

"Alex! I need your help!"

Alex turned away from the bar to stare at Jo, who was wobbling through the room with a small yet precarious pile of boxes in her arms.

When he didn't react at first, she yelled again. "Karev! Get your butt over here and-" She went flying; the boxes hurling towards Alex. One of them rolled over the bar as he threw out a hand to catch another.

Jo glared up at him from where she lay on her stomach and he set the box on the bar in order to help her up. Once she was one her feet- and clutching her nose in pain- she slouched down onto the stool next to him. "Thanks," she said sarcastically.

"What the hell are you doing?" he questioned as she ordered herself a shot of tequila. "Even you can't be stupid enough to not realise that walking around with 3 full boxes isn't a good idea." He finished off his beer and motioned for another.

She sighed. "I'm moving," she explained as Joe helped her repack the boxes. "And I need your help deciding what to keep and what to get rid of."

"You're moving?" he cried, louder than he'd intended. "To where?"

"The apartment across the hall from mine," she said, grinning cheekily. "It has a better view." She pulled an old pink sweater from the nearest box and held it up for him to see. "To keep or not to keep?"

Glaring at the offensive piece of clothing in distaste, Alex grabbed it and threw it. "Not to keep. That thing's almost as bad as your singing." When someone threw it back, he grinned and tipped his beer all over it.

Laughing, Jo dropped it over the bar. "Now we never have to see it again. Ever." With a frown, she groaned. "Is my nose broken?" she asked. "Because it feels broken." She raised a hand to it and wiped off the small trickle of blood streaming down from one of her nostrils.

After examining it for a minute, he shook his head. "Nah; it's fine," he assured her. "It'll probably be a bit bruised tomorrow, though. So, why are you moving across the hall from where your house?"

She grimaced. "I can't pay rent, and for some reason the better of the two apartments is about $200 cheaper."

"You know, you could just move in with me," he offered.

Taken aback, she wondered just how drunk she was. "I just- I just told you that I can't pay rent there and I know how much you make Cristina pay." She almost shuddered at the memory of the time she'd seen the cold woman hand him a wad of bills.

Alex rolled his eyes. "Rent-free, idiot. I mean, I've got a spare room and you spend most of your time there anyway. It's not like Yang will care, and I obviously don't, so move in. And we can, uh, carpool to work."

"Are you turning my place back into a frat house?" Meredith, who had appeared quite suddenly, inquired. "Because I thought you were all, 'I'm a homeowner who needs to grow up' nowadays."

"Not a frat house," he said indignantly. "No way are Kepner and Avery and Lex- no way are Kepner and Avery moving back in. And besides, it's my place now."

Meredith paled slightly at the name he'd almost said, but Jo thought nothing of it. "Wait, Dr Kepner and Dr Avery used to live with you two and Dr Shepherd? Shit. That's a lot of people."

"My dead sister used to live with us, too," Meredith said bitterly. "You know what? I think I'm going to take off. Bye." She quickly drank the water she'd ordered and walked off.

Jo looked after her, an expression of horror on her face. "Dead sister?" she asked Alex.

He nodded. "Yep. Can we not talk about this?" She nodded, and so he continued. "Right, so I have 3 empty rooms. You can take whichever, though I wouldn't go for the one next to Yang. Owen comes over _way _too much for you to ever get any sleep there."

Laughing, she asked Joe for more tequila. "So true. Anyway, can I be on your service tomorrow? Torres kind of scares me."

"Torres kind of scares everyone," he informed her, and laughed. "But yeah, whatever. You're way more useful than Edwards. She won't stop talking about Avery. I'm going to throttle her one of these days, I swear."

She smiled. "She is pretty annoying," she agreed, not caring that Stephanie was technically one of her best friends and it was mean of her to say so. "Got any good cases? Ones that might happen to call for my talents in the OR?"

"Yes, Wilson, you can scrub in on any surgeries I have."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed as she threw her arms around him.

He awkwardly hugged her back and patted her shoulder. "You're, uh, welcome. Just don't kill anyone, okay?"

"I won't!" Jo smiled for a moment before checking her watch. Her expression fell. "Crap. I have to go in, like, 5 minutes." Feeling she should explain, she elaborated. "I have a date. A hot one."

"Oh, God," Alex muttered. "Please tell me it's not that creepy OB?"

She bit her lip and suppressed a giggle. "It's not that 'creepy' OB," she said, nodding. "Most definitely not."

"Are you lying?" he asked, sounding suspicious. He was really starting to not like that OB guy. He didn't like him one little, tiny bit.

"Yes, I am," she admitted. "So, bye." She abandoned her boxes and left the bar, feeling incredibly guilty.

A part of her- a deep down part- knew she shouldn't be going out with the guy. She didn't even like him, really. She just really, really, _really_ wanted to get over Alex so the awkwardness they both kept denying would just go away and leave them. For good.

A part of her- a not so deep down part- also knew it wouldn't be all that easy to forget about how she felt for Alex.

When she realised she'd kind of agreed to move in with him, she almost literally face-palmed. How stupid was she? Like _living with him_ would work out in her favour.

**A/N** Yeah, I know. This is kind of terrible. But I was short of ideas and wanted to test out my new laptop for writing, so this is what you get. I apologise. Does anyone agree with me on the sentiment that we should all team up and brutally murder the OB? I really dislike the guy, just like Alex. Also, sorry for bringing up Lexie. I was feeling particularly bitter about her death today.

To review or to review? That is the question.


	15. Babysitting

**A/N** WHAT IS THIS?! AN UPDATE?! IT CAN'T BE! Oh, guys. I'm so sorry! There was family and tests and no inspiration to write and I'm a horrible person and I completely understand if you hate me and are going to boycott anything/everything I write. If I have any readers left, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND BUT YOU'RE THE MOST AMAZING AND PATIENT PEOPLE IN THE WORLD!

Anyway, this is the last **actual **chapter for this story, though I do have an epilogue of flash-forwards planned out.

I'm so sorry! I really hope this ridiculously cheesy fluff makes up for me being a crappy author.

**Babysitting**

"Why did I agree to this?" Jo grumbled as she lay on Alex's living room floor- _their _living room floor, she had to remind herself- with a can of soft drink in one hand while she held a bottle of milk in the other. She and Alex were babysitting Zola while Meredith and Derek were away at a conference, and she was starting to think she should leave the kid and run.

Alex laughed. "Come on," he said, grinning. "It's not that bad. She's only been sick on you a few times- what is it now, 5?"

"Shut up." She watched as he wiped away the milk that was dribbling its way down Zola's chin. "At least she didn't pee on my face." Smirking, she took a long drink from the can until it was empty and threw it against the wall. Her phone started buzzing and when she saw who it was she almost threw it, too.

"Is that lover boy?" he asked thickly, visibly stiffening. He angled his body away from her's and put all his focus onto the kid.

Jo swept her dark eyes across his annoyed face. "Yes," she said, trailing off as she thought of what to say. "Except he's not 'lover boy' anymore. We broke up." She decided now would be a good time to fling herself off a cliff, but as there were none in sight she settled for glancing down and playing with the frays at the bottom of her jeans.

Looking at her, confused, Alex raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

_You, _she thought but didn't dare say. "It was a… mutual thing," she said, untruthfully. Jason hadn't wanted to break up at all. In fact, he was intent of beating Alex's head repeatedly against a brick wall. Not that Jo had _told _him, per se- she'd made up a bunch of random crap about not wanting to be in a relationship- but he had guessed straight away. He wasn't stupid, after all. "We just weren't working out."

"Really?" he scoffed sarcastically. "And here I thought the two of you were going to get married and have cute little babies and live happily ever after." He patted the top of Zola's head before pulling her onto his lap.

"Want some food?" Jo asked, randomly and suddenly. "I've been learning how to cook. Can I test it out on you?" She grinned at him, her perfect teeth chewing lightly on her pink lower lip. "Please," she added, using her big eyes to her advantage.

"Sure," he said. "If you promise not to kill me."

She only winked.

xx

"Okay," Alex said as he walked back into the kitchen. "That was delicious _and _it put the kid to sleep. Kudos to you, Jo. Kudos to you." He sat down on one of the benches as she cleaned up the kitchen. He'd already offered to help her; she's gracefully declined, claiming that he couldn't lose the 'scrumptious' taste of her gnocchi. His protests didn't last all that long.

"I don't think it takes much to put her to sleep," Jo admitted. "She passed out when _someone_-" she glared pointedly "- thought it would be a good idea to have a Tarantino marathon with her in the room." For a paediatric surgeon who was better with kids than anyone she knew, he could be a little clueless sometimes.

Finished with her slightly obsessive cleaning, she sat down next to him and gestured to a framed picture by the stove, of all places. The picture was of two people a few years younger than Alex. "Who are they?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged. "My brother and sister."

Knowing he wouldn't want to talk about his family, she changed the subject. "You'll never guess what I did the other day."

"What?" he replied warily, not sure he really wanted to know.

Jo grinned. "Heather and I both had a day off and she wanted to go try out a new restaurant except we somehow ended up at a strip club. I was fully prepared to leave when she announced she wanted to learn how to give a lap dance. If being a doctor doesn't work out, I now know enough to be a stripped. I was thinking of calling myself Jo-Jo Peaches. What do you think?"

Having choked on his drink, Alex was going into hysterics. "You- Brooks… strippers!" he just barely managed to get out. "Oh, God. I think I'm going to need a demonstration of this."

"Nah," she declined, poking out her tongue and standing up to give an odd little wiggle of her tiny waist. "You totally can't afford me; I'm a high-end stripper, see."

"Jo-Jo Peaches: shaming half-ass strippers everywhere since 2013," he mused. "It _does _have a pretty good ring to it. I like it."

The two then somehow ended up playing music- not loud enough to wake Zola- and doing the craziest dance moves they could come up with. Jo had to stop for almost ten minutes due to laughter when Alex started some pelvis thrusts. "Stop it!" she cried, tears of hysteria forming in the corners of her eyes.

She tried to run out of the room when he grabbed her by the waist. "Let me go!" she yelled.

Alex really couldn't help what followed. His eyes flickered down to her teasing lips and he pulled her impossibly closer as she stopped fighting, her arms latching themselves around his neck. "You know," he said. "Meredith thinks we should date."

"Does she now?"

"Yup." He grinned. "So, wanna go on a date?"

Jo responded by the closing the distance between their anticipating lips, kissing him with a passion and intensity she never had. If this was what babysitting was like, she didn't think she minded it all that much.

**A/N **And ta-da! Drinks At a Bar has officially come to an end. You guys have all been wonderful and supportive and I love you so, so much! Let me know if you guys want the epilogue (which will involve little snippets of stuff like their first date, wedding- because the do live happily ever after!- and other such events. Also, check out my Jolex one-shot Here to Stay and tell me if I should continue because if you want to read more I definitely want to write more.

Bye! Stay Amazing! I love you! Virtual cookies for all!


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